This note might  be considered to be a member generated supplement to the A&F Committee minutes from the Zoom meeting of November 14, 2020. The meeting included discussion about fundraising that I believe could benefit from quantitative data, as well as a couple of areas where corrections to the discussion might be appropriate. As there were a considerable number of non-committee members present at the meeting, and some of the information might be useful to the entire Board, this is sent to ODV. Fundraising Discussion Background There were meeting participants who suggested an enhanced fundraising effort, possibly with a newly hired "Chief  Development Officer," and possibly one paid by commission on amount raised. Being of the opinion that I was primarily elected to promote service to the membership and Amateur Radio and not necessarily work to extract the maximum amount of financial resources from them, I pointed out that the League has more than adequate financial  assets and does not need any significant change to its fundraising efforts or staff. League Financial Resources The ARRL has over twenty million dollars more in both Total Assets and Net Assets than  it had in 2008. Some of the assets are needed to fund life and term memberships, and  approximately $3 million is contained in (non-Board directed) restricted assets. The Board could spend $10 million on projects if any were identified that warranted funding. The following table contains data extracted from the League's Annual Reports, which can be used to validate claims about ARRL assets. Year   Investments TotAssets  NetAssets  ------    ------------     ------------    ----------- 2002   11195513   15618589    4128490  2003   11880970   15783174    4456914  2004   12599804   16432133    5293205  2005   12822683   16208971    5293245  2006   13985195   17101810    6069566  2007   15053094   18035761    6950616  2008   12471562   14863320    -409378  2009   14909196   17820406    5837972  2010   18099375   20922322    9318932  2011   18819971   22520381    9771483  2012   17728010   21679880   10938945  2013   21157076   25795161   14508497  2014   21754401   26424199   15174762  2015   21826857   26668658   14772839  2016   23774265   28473897   16462146 2017   27478256   32702596   20511402  2018   27617702   32408211   19774776  2019   31726591   36563576   23523905  Nonprofit Fundraising by Commission Is Unethical In the meeting, I pointed out that in previous A&F deliberations, I remembered that there was something wrong with nonprofit fundraising by commission. Another Director claimed that it was not illegal. It may not be against the law, but the National Council of NonProfits, among others, points out that it is deemed to be unethical. This  can be verified by searching the  Internet with the words, "nonprofit fundraising by commission." Certain Directors  may feel that ethics might be considered in our fundraising plans. Possible ARDC Funding Should Be Considered I pointed out that ARDC, Amateur Radio Digital Communications, the group that sold IP addresses for over $100 million dollars and plans to fund Amateur Radio and digital  communications efforts at a rate of over $5 million per year, should be considered and possibly be consulted on proposed projects. One Director stated something to the effect that he had information that  ARDC was going its own way and not interested in the League. However, a subsequent phone call to the ARDC President confirms that ARDC may not want simply to transfer its funds to the ARRL's bank account, but is still interested in working with the League and possibly providing funding on appropriate projects. In the past, we have discussed things like the possibility of ARDC funding initial League membership for all or some number of newly licensed Amateurs. This has not yet progressed to a point where such funding should definitely be expected.  I have felt it appropriate to wait until the new ARRL CEO has firmly settled in and important IT issues are under control before bringing this and any other possible new projects to his attention. Possible ARDC funding remains something to be considered for  any projects that benefit Amateur Radio. Fundraising Fundamentals - Donors Need Goals for Donations A few years ago, the ARRL Roanoke Division Vice Director  introduced  me to a fundraising professional in his division, Carl W. Davis, W8WZ. Davis sent me a copy of his book Because Donors Want to Share. The essence of the book is that nonprofits should consider themselves to be vehicles for donors to accomplish goals, not  terminal destinations for donors' money. Previous significant ARRL fundraising has lacked this objective. Donations simply went to the League's bank account. The 100th Anniversary effort fell short of its modest goals, in  part I believe, because there was no identifiable end use given for requested donations. Present Fundraising Staff Performs Acceptably The present ARRL Development Department differs from a previous version only by having the operation being headed up by someone called a Department Manager rather than a Chief Development Officer. The Department Manager has been paid approximately half the amount per year that the previous CDO was paid. However, the follow-on managers have raised essentially the same or somewhat more money per year. Summary - No Increase in Fundraising from Members Needed  The ARRL has more than adequate financial resources. In fact, it has money with no plans for using it.    Amateur Radio Digital Communications, ARDC, has more financial resources than the League, and is operated to distribute over $5 million annually. The League should consider working with ARDC on any proposed projects. There is no reason to change the League's fundraising staff. There is no reason to mount a significant effort to extract more money from members. There is good reason to find and implement programs that benefit members and Amateur Radio as a whole. I hope that you will work to find and eventually implement such programs. 73, Dick Norton, N6AA